Search This Blog

Friday Coffee with PJ

So glad to have you join me for another edition of Friday Coffee with PJ. I hope you enjoy both your coffee and few random thoughts I have to share with you that I trust will strengthen your faith and warm your heart! 1. Last week I owned up to being stopped by a county sheriff on our way back home from Williamsburg, VA. Why was I stopped? I was exceeding the speed limit! And if you read my post of last Friday, you will know that I have already paid the fine. This week I received several letters (five and counting!) from lawyers who practice in that area of Virginia. They all offer to represent me in court in an attempt to have the fine reduced or dismissed - all at the bargain price of $350 (a couple have come in at a lower price in an attempt to gain my business)! Of course, I am not going to be contacting any of them. For starters, their fee is much more than the cost of the fine. But more importantly, I am guilty as charged. So why fight it? The honest thing is to pay the fine and move on (with a bit less pressure on the accelerator!). All of us stand before God, "guilty as charged." The Apostle Paul writes the following in his letter to the church in Rome:

"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)

Paul makes it clear that we are ALL guilty before God (Romans 3:23) and NONE of us can ever hope to be declared righteous due to our own efforts. So are we without hope? Absolutely not! We have an advocate who already paid the penalty (fine) for our sin and rebellion against God! And just who is our advocate (lawyer)?

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.He is the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2)

So my friends ... the fine, the penalty for your sin (Romans 6:23) has already been paid in full by Jesus Christ. Have you reached out with the empty hands of faith to receive the free gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of your sin that ONLY Jesus Christ can offer (John 14:6)? I hope you have. It is the most important choice you could ever make in this life! 2. For the past two months plus, we have been conducting both our worship services in our Family Life Center. The reason? Our sanctuary has been undergoing a heavy duty makeover! New chairs, new pews, new paint, new carpets, new sound, new lighting, new preacher .... well, all but the last (for which I am very thankful!). This coming Sunday we are scheduled to move both of

our services to the sanctuary (there are just a few more things to be done - so it looks like we will make it). This will be just one week later than expected ... and as far as I know, pretty much in line with our projected costs. Yea! Just in time for Easter week! Sometimes things go as planned. A lot of times they don't. And it's when things go awry that our true character bubbles to the surface. So the next time you face adversity, whether big or small, listen to what comes out of your mouth. Because Jesus said that what comes out of our mouth originates in the heart (Matthew 12:34). Just this week God has convicted me of a critical spirit. He did so by helping me to listen to myself. As I did, I heard a lot of criticism coming out of my mouth. So I went to God to confess and repent. I asked him to give me a heart that speaks encouragement to others (Ephesians 4:29). How about YOU? What's been coming out of your mouth lately? Especially when things go wrong. Thanks for stopping by . . . pj

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Out with the old .... in with the new and then some! That pretty much sums up my wife's surgery this morning. The surgeon removed the knee prosthesis that was implanted during her original knee replacement of September 4, 2015 and replaced it with another one. He also inserted a rod in her femur for stability and and another smaller rod below the knee as well. In addition he removed the hardware used to repair her broken femur of November, 2015. Finally, he excised a lot of scar tissue from the original surgery and polished her knee cap (and removed the remaining cartilage - gluing a plastic "button" in its place). He was very optimistic that she will be able to "do well" once she recovers from surgery and gets through her physical therapy. She is resting comfortably now (the nerve block is good for about 12-18 hours), I anticipate a Wednesday discharge.

Sharon got the green light to come home this afternoon. So just after 5:00 we walked through our front door (Sharon using her walker, of course!). She had two PT sessions which left her physically drained (and in pain!) but encouraged. We realize she has a long path to walk on her road to recovery. She will have in home physical therapy until she goes for her post op appointment on the 27th. Then she will begin her outpatient therapy. Please pray that the healing that has begun will continue and the outcome her surgeon envisions for her will be realized. Having gone down this path before, we both realize it will be no picnic. But with God's help and the prayers and support of so many, we know that she can do this again. Thanks for your prayers!!!

Today I received an email from someone who asked me this question: "How does a person know if he is called by God to serve as a pastor or a chaplain?" That's a great question. And it is a question that all of us ask at various times in our faith journey. God places opportunities to serve him before us, and we wonder if God is actually calling us to serve in that particular capacity.

Here is what I in essence said in my response. God takes all of us who have chosen to follow Jesus and shapes us to do good works - works that he has chosen in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10 makes this clear). He does this through his Holy Spirit, who gives us each certain spiritual gifts (see Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4). He also does this through His works of creation (for example, each of us are wired by God with a certain personality temperament) and providence (in which God orchestrates the details and situations of our lives so that we gain valuable experience to late…

Friday Coffee with PJ

So glad to have you join me for another edition of Friday Coffee with PJ. I hope you enjoy both your coffee and few random thoughts I have to share with you that I trust will strengthen your faith and warm your heart! 1. Last week I owned up to being stopped by a county sheriff on our way back home from Williamsburg, VA. Why was I stopped? I was exceeding the speed limit! And if you read my post of last Friday, you will know that I have already paid the fine. This week I received several letters (five and counting!) from lawyers who practice in that area of Virginia. They all offer to represent me in court in an attempt to have the fine reduced or dismissed - all at the bargain price of $350 (a couple have come in at a lower price in an attempt to gain my business)! Of course, I am not going to be contacting any of them. For starters, their fee is much more than the cost of the fine. But more importantly, I am guilty as charged. So why fight it? The honest thing is to pay the fine and move on (with a bit less pressure on the accelerator!). All of us stand before God, "guilty as charged." The Apostle Paul writes the following in his letter to the church in Rome:

"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)

Paul makes it clear that we are ALL guilty before God (Romans 3:23) and NONE of us can ever hope to be declared righteous due to our own efforts. So are we without hope? Absolutely not! We have an advocate who already paid the penalty (fine) for our sin and rebellion against God! And just who is our advocate (lawyer)?

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.He is the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2)

So my friends ... the fine, the penalty for your sin (Romans 6:23) has already been paid in full by Jesus Christ. Have you reached out with the empty hands of faith to receive the free gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of your sin that ONLY Jesus Christ can offer (John 14:6)? I hope you have. It is the most important choice you could ever make in this life! 2. For the past two months plus, we have been conducting both our worship services in our Family Life Center. The reason? Our sanctuary has been undergoing a heavy duty makeover! New chairs, new pews, new paint, new carpets, new sound, new lighting, new preacher .... well, all but the last (for which I am very thankful!). This coming Sunday we are scheduled to move both of

our services to the sanctuary (there are just a few more things to be done - so it looks like we will make it). This will be just one week later than expected ... and as far as I know, pretty much in line with our projected costs. Yea! Just in time for Easter week! Sometimes things go as planned. A lot of times they don't. And it's when things go awry that our true character bubbles to the surface. So the next time you face adversity, whether big or small, listen to what comes out of your mouth. Because Jesus said that what comes out of our mouth originates in the heart (Matthew 12:34). Just this week God has convicted me of a critical spirit. He did so by helping me to listen to myself. As I did, I heard a lot of criticism coming out of my mouth. So I went to God to confess and repent. I asked him to give me a heart that speaks encouragement to others (Ephesians 4:29). How about YOU? What's been coming out of your mouth lately? Especially when things go wrong. Thanks for stopping by . . . pj